


Trine

by Rin_the_Shadow



Series: But a Live Embarrassment [1]
Category: Transformers (Unicron Trilogy), Transformers: Cybertron
Genre: Alternate Continuity, Bonus Scene, Friendship, Gen, No shipping, Thundercracker is not Stupid, seeker bros, skywarp is a good bro, starscream is a good bro, still sorta canon compliant if you squint, teammates looking out for each other, thundercracker is a good bro, well he tries at least
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-21
Updated: 2018-10-21
Packaged: 2019-08-05 05:32:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16361795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rin_the_Shadow/pseuds/Rin_the_Shadow
Summary: As power structures shift and Decepticons are reassigned left and right, Skywarp looks out for his trine.Deleted scene from "But a Live Embarrassment."





	Trine

Reassignments. They were not something any Decepticon looked forward to. Sometimes you’d get a heads up and have time to prepare, but mostly only if you had an in with someone close to Megatron. Most of the time, someone would show up and tell you Megatron had ordered you with them, and that would be that. Your teammates might not even find out until you were gone. And under Megatron, no one dared question it.

It was worse if you were trined. Granted, that was mostly a seeker problem, but for those seekers who had a trine, splitting up had more effects than just the loss of camaraderie.

Trining could be considered something of a psychological phenomenon, separate from telepathy in that, contrary to some rumors, they couldn’t actually hear each other’s thoughts and emotions, and separate from the bond of a mate in that attraction wasn’t a required feature (Skywarp’s own trinemate was proof of that). But there was a degree of bonding, and a seeker who had lost their trine would often experience lapses in battle where their mates would have covered them, not to mention the various processor issues it could cause.

This wasn’t well-understood by non-seekers, though. Especially since they could and often _did_ take and return from solo missions. So Megatron saw no problem with splitting them up, particularly when one was more successful than the others.

And that was where their dilemma came in. Not too incredibly long after their enlistment, Megatron had taken Starscream on for training, and he had rapidly advanced to second-in-command. Whatever that may have been worth, the trine was starting to see the risk.

Skywarp had tried to insist that he wouldn’t split them up, that he _had_ to understand what kind of effect it would have on the team, on his _own second_. But Thundercracker had continued to fret and Starscream had glanced to one side and muttered, “Oh, I’m _sure_ he does” in a tone that Skywarp _really_ didn’t want to think too much about.

But for Thundercracker, it was just like a beacon to a Scrapmetal. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Starscream was silent for a long moment, his expression deadening and closing off.

“What’s wrong?” Skywarp couldn’t help but ask.

“…Ramjet’s been reassigned,” he said.

An ominous cold descended upon the trine, as if the energon had frozen in their circuits. No one dared break it for fear that if they spoke it, it would make it real.

“…You’re joking, right?” Thundercracker finally ventured.

Starscream shot him a look that screamed, “Do you think I would slagging joke about this?” Thundercracker held up his hands in a “just checking” gesture.

“Did he give a reason?” Skywarp asked.

There was a brief pause, a spike of tension before he answered, “No. He didn’t say anything to me.”

Skywarp wasn’t sure whether he should believe it, and though Thundercracker never protested, he decided he  _definitely_ didn’t. 

* * *

 

They had sparred increasingly frequently that week, with Thundercracker demanding constant feedback on his form and execution, and Starscream pushing for even the smallest fixes. Skywarp couldn’t remember many occasions where he’d actually seen them feeding off each other like that—normally, Starscream at least could keep his concerns hidden.

But when he’d returned one day visibly agitated about not finding any assignments for the three of them, Skywarp had waited for Thundercracker to leave and taken him aside. “Is it an actual probability?”

“…I don’t know,” Starscream had answered after a moment. “It’s been just him and me for a lot of the recent assignments. He hasn’t said anything, but I didn’t know he was thinking about Ramjet either.” He still wasn’t sure if that was entirely true.

Skywarp had contemplated how to go about this. Phrase it the wrong way, and he might shut down on them. It had taken a long enough time even to get to this point, and to be honest, Skywarp wasn’t sure how secure this point was. “You know he’s really freaked out about this.”

“And you think I’m not?” Starscream snapped, then shook his head. “No, I know he is.”

Skywarp paused. “Megatron hasn’t said _anything_ to you that would make you think…?”

There was a brief catch, short enough that anyone who didn’t know to look for it wouldn’t have seen it. “Nothing.” 

* * *

 

Their next sparring session, he had been quieter than in a long time, even as Thundercracker started in again. “Y’don’t think the big dog might split us, too?” He attacked the training hologram. “I mean, I know I don’t got y’all’s firepower and I can’t get rid of my Delta Quadrant drawl and ev’rbody thinks I’m gonna slag myself…”

“So use it,” Starscream finally spoke, shutting off the hologram even as Thundercracker stopped mid-swing. “They think you’re stupid enough to get slagged? So let ‘em. It’s their funeral.”

 _Is that what you do?_ Skywarp almost wanted to ask, but there was a note in his tone that warned them not to pressure him for further answers.

* * *

 

And Thundercracker had taken his advice. Before long, he’d adapted his crackshot reputation into one of complete unpredictability. He developed such a wild tactic even Skywarp and Starscream could barely keep up with what he was doing at times.

At one point, Starscream had commented that maybe he didn’t need to take it _quite_ as far as he did. Skywarp had responded, “Well, you _are_ the one who told him to.”

“…We’ll see if I begin to regret that.” He almost grinned.

But even though the chatter amongst the Decepticons hadn’t changed, Megatron had clearly taken notice. Thundercracker was sent off on several near-impossible missions. Although Starscream hadn’t shown much response, when Skywarp had asked, “Is he supposed to come back or is this Megatron’s way of getting rid of him?” he had only been able to answer that he didn’t know.

But Thundercracker had come back, much to his relief and the closest thing to relief that Starscream would show. And he had been assigned again. And again. And again. And he kept coming back. Starscream’s concern had quickly tapered off. Obviously, he couldn’t argue with results.

Skywarp, on the other hand, had more than a few issues with it. Though seekers _could_ and often _did_ do well on solo missions, it was much better to go as a trine. And besides that, what if something happened to him, and he or Starscream wasn’t able to reach him in time? But Starscream had taken him aside later. “I’ll make sure that doesn’t happen. Don’t worry” was all he had to say. Skywarp had pointed out that he couldn’t guarantee that, but he had refused to elaborate further.

And of course, Thundercracker had been ecstatic. If Megatron was seeing he had a use, maybe he’d think twice before reassigning him.

 _That_ , on the other hand, had set something off in their trinemate. Starscream hadn’t said anything, hadn’t done anything obvious, but some kind of switch had been flipped. He’d never gotten the chance to ask him about it, but this time, it had been Thundercracker who pulled him aside.

“You think he’s gonna be all right?” he worried. “Shoot, I know I shouldn’t’a mentioned the reassignments, but I figured all that was over by now.”

Skywarp had only been able to answer that he didn’t know. They could try to watch what he did, but with his serving directly under Megatron, there would be times they couldn’t. They could make escape plans, figure out where they would go if it came down to it. But Thundercracker had pointed out that for all his complaints in private, he didn’t think Starscream had ever actually voiced any of it to the boss’s face.

“I’m not sayin’ he’s _afraid_ of the big dog,” he had continued. “But he’s in a tight spot, y’know? Worked up real fast, got a trine to keep ahold of. Big dog’s got a lot to press ‘em with, an’ to be honest, I don’t know what he did before we all met.”

Skywarp had to admit he didn’t know either. It wasn’t something any of them had mentioned all that much. It had never been all that important.

* * *

 

He and Thundercracker had gone through with making a plan for departure. While they couldn’t scope out in full where they would go or who they would stay with (if anyone), Skywarp was able to identify several neutral zones that probably wouldn’t object to a trine of runaway seekers.

“You think he’d actually go along with this?” Thundercracker had asked.

Skywarp pushed down his worries—that Starscream wouldn’t want to risk Megatron’s wrath if they were found out, he’d object to his own joining them on the grounds that Megatron’s second wouldn’t be welcome in a neutral zone—and forced himself to reply, “If it came down to it, yes.” He couldn’t bring himself to say anything else to back up that claim.

But in the middle of their planning, the threshold had creaked open and Starscream stepped through. Well, it was less of a step and more of a stiff stumble as he caught himself on the port’s frame.

That caught their attention. Starscream wasn’t the type to stumble, but when Skywarp looked up, he could see why he had. There were multiple cracks scattered over his armor and at least three short circuits erupting over his body.

Skywarp had crossed to him in a second, with Thundercracker close behind. “Are you all right?” Skywarp asked.

“Yeesh, how’d you manage that? You look like y’got chewed up by an angry Scrapmetal!”

Starscream scowled at Thundercracker in response, trying to wave off Skywarp’s help but conceding when he tried to take a step and caused another circuit to short in his leg.

“Might as well have,” he forced out. “Tangled with some triple-changer. Hit the wrong side of a gravity shield. Couldn’t retreat.”

 _Megatron wouldn’t give the order, you mean_ , Skywarp thought.

“Well, did ya at least win?” Thundercracker started. “Naw, that don’t matter,” he corrected himself.

“We accomplished our objective…if that’s what you mean.” His lip quirked up in a half-smirk that quickly turned into a hiss as the short in his wing-plating sparked. “In any event,” he continued, “you don’t have to worry about reassignments.”

“In any event,” Skywarp interjected, leading him to a flat surface they could use as an impromptu med-berth. “We need to get you patched up.”

Starscream grimaced. “I can handle it.”

Skywarp and Thundercracker didn’t often agree on medical things, but in that moment, they shot a simultaneous glare at their trinemate.

He huffed in response, wincing as plating scraped along the cracks. “At least give me something I can use so I don’t have to lie here and watch.”

Thundercracker handed him a screwdriver, which Skywarp tried (unsuccessfully) to snatch away. The gesture was mostly for show at this point. Starscream smirked in triumph and wasted no time starting on a repair in his wrist.

“Well, now you two are just playing dirty,” Skywarp protested. They both knew he wouldn’t take it away while you were attached to any kind of energon line, even indirectly.

“Ain’t like there’s nothin’ else we can work on,” Thundercracker pointed out. “You really wanna get started on a _wrist_?”

“You know you probably should have gone to a CR chamber first, right?” Skywarp sighed as Starscream gave a dismissive grunt in reply. “All right, just checking.”

As they went to work, Thundercracker spoke up. “So how’d you convince the big dog not to split us up?”

“Scrap, spark, and tears.” He responded unceremoniously, tone leaving no room for elaboration.

“Yeesh, I don’t envy you one bit,” Thundercracker whistled mercifully.

Skywarp could almost feel himself slumping in relief. If he’d pressed it, he really didn’t want to have to diffuse that, especially not while reconnecting a short in his wing-plating. He could feel his gears freezing at the thought of what he must have done to secure this. He would ask later, when the injuries weren’t so fresh. But for now, he went to work in silence, merely grateful that this wouldn’t be the end for them.

Because deep down, he knew that he, too, would do just about anything for the sake of his trine.

**Author's Note:**

> Skywarp is an interesting character to try to nail down, since he isn't really in any of the Unicron Trilogy. Unlike Thundercracker, for whom I could invent some ideas based on his toy bio in Armada as well as what I knew from Cybertron, Skywarp is somewhat based on his G1 counterpart, but with large portions shifted around to work with how Thundercracker and Starscream are depicted in the Cybertron series.
> 
> I was originally going to do this one from Thundercracker's perspective, but having already done "But a Live Embarrassment," it made more sense to me to shift to Skywarp's perspective, especially since it would let me expand his character.
> 
> In any event, please let me know what you think!  
> ~Rin


End file.
